Category: leisure & sport
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Vans West End: Owning & creating a customer destination
in branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, footwear, in-store services, internationalisation, leisure & sport, location strategy, new retail, product development, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store theatre, visual merchandisingThe brave & extraordinary Vans West End is a shop, a skate-park, an exhibition and a concert venue. Within this complexity it has a simple message for retail brands. “Customer community & loyalty must come through more than just selling product. It must come through ‘owning’ something which is central and essential to your customer…
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Finisterre: Owning a responsibility to protect and share the ocean.
in branding & visual communication, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fabrics, in-store services, leisure & sport, meaning in the retail madness, pre-loved, product development, re-sell, recycling, renting, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, secondhand, shop of the future, store experience, store theatre, supply-chains, sustainabilitySome brands sell products, whilst others sell passions. And in this consumer world of over-supply and product fatigue it finally seems that customers are being drawn to companies that were never really meant to be retailers at all. To call them ‘accidental retailers’ is really not fair, because in most cases they have developed assortments…
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Brompton bikes back-peddling through the turmoil of Supply & Demand!
Brompton bikes were first invented in 1975. Their story is one of supply & demand. From high demand and little competition to market saturation. It is a lesson in retail economics for all of us. Brompton is known as an innovator in the world of cycling. The brand that developed an urban bike that commuters…
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2025: A year to safeguard your trust and keep your customers safe.
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, brave-words, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, ethical retailing, food & drink, health & beauty, high street planning, in-store services, leisure & sport, location strategy, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, personalisation, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experienceJanuary is not many people’s favourite month of the year, unless you work for a credit card business, I guess. But the start to 2025 has been a particularly bad one, with horrendous fires in Los Angeles and Ghana, and our own problems with flooding and storms closer to home. Of course, there are always…
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Swimming with the current: Gymshark’s coffee conversations
As you may already be aware I am a huge fan of Gymshark, the gym wear producer and retailer. There are so many things to learn from the rags to riches business that began in a garage 10 years ago and is now valued at over $1 billion. I’ve been following their press during their…
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Rapha: A renaissance in cycling
in accessories, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, food & drink, in-store services, internationalisation, leisure & sport, new retail, omni-channel retailing, product suppliers, retail, retail brand heritage, retail strategy, shop of the future, social savvy, store experience, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandisingThe lessons for us all: “Never treat your customers as a commodity but as a community. To have a community you must have common passions, missions and values. You must believe and mean something to your customers. And you must re-establish and re-enforce that meaning in everything that you do.” Rapha Performance Road wear is…
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Petit Pli: One giant leap in space-age fashion
in assortment structure planning, customer service, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, fashion accessories, footwear, in-store services, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, meaning in the retail madness, new retail, omni-channel retailing, packaging, personalisation, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experience, supply-chains, sustainability, telling product storiesThe lessons for us all: “Petit Pli is born from innovation and invention and has created unique materials & products that make it unique. But it is essential that every retailer also lives continuously with innovation and invention. In the best and worst of times continually look forwards to be new, newsworthy and interesting for…
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Bike Shed Motorcycle Club: Revving up Community
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, food & drink, footwear, health & beauty, in-store services, internationalisation, leisure & sport, location strategy, menswear, multi-category, new retail, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail organisations, retail strategy, social savvy, store experience, store theatre, telling product storiesThe lessons for us all: “You can teach people how to be successful at retailing, if they have the passion. But it’s much more difficult to teach ‘Passion’ even to people who know how to buy & sell. People really love to buy passion, today!” The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club started in November 2011 as…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility through hidden technologies
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandisingThe lessons for us all: “It is one thing designing & buying the best product in the world, but another level when you can say with confidence where every piece of it is! We should all learn from Zara’s product passport investment, so we can ensure we sell all of what we produce. We make…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility Pinterest gallery
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandising, windowsZara has taken the wraps off its latest flagship – a two-story, online-integrated space – housed in an arresting new building, which forms part of the ambitious regeneration of the Battersea Power Station complex, created by the celebrated architect Frank Gehry. The tech-driven store, which at 4,500sqm is Zara’s largest commercial space in the UK,…
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